The Golden Dragon

Legends of the Underdark

One of the first things we encountered was a Darkmantle. They fell from the ceiling, clinging to my shoulders and I felt its teeth sink into my skull and head, blinding me and gnawing at me. Only by transforming into a bear of great strength was I able to remove it, and help Jeldras and our guide, Sarnegla. After death, it appeared to be squid like with a stony mottled skin.

*

There are few people on this plane who have never heard of beholders: creatures with many eyes who have a mastery of magics in way even our strongest wizards cannot. But I have never seen anything quite like this. A smaller creature, giggling and talking at us in some tongue I cannot comprehend. We took to calling them spectators, creatures who seemed to follow and watch our every move, though not involving themselves unless directly confronted.

A later entry

We later discoverd the mind flayer Gelt had been creating these creatures in attempt to learn to harness and control the greater beholders of the world. We did what we could to hunt down and kill these pitiful creatures, but at least one escaped us and we imagine it will find some sickening end before another attempts to replicate their production.

*

The Grell are the strangest creatures I have seen. A beak on a floating, tentacled brain. We were not so unfortunate as to witness the peculiar eating habits of this creature, but we have been informed it uses it's beak to carve a whole in the back of heads before quite literally slurping out the sweet nectar of grey matter inside.

*

Flumphs remain one of my favourite and most misunderstood creatures of this strange underworld. Taking the appearance of some tentacled mass of monstrous features, they are in fact timid and even friendly. They communicate only via images, but we gleaned from the one we met that it's telepathic powers were great, given human capability.

The flumphs also have a most peculiar ability. We found one which we nursed to health (we believe it had fallen afould of a darkmantle from the gashes) and afterwards it sent us secrets about tunnels and information. I remember once reading that flumphs thrive on positive energy. Thought has a taste to it, and for a flumph this was nourishing. Many students of the underdark felt that this must have negative connotations, that they eat people's thoughts, but it more seemed indescribably pleased by our positive natures, sharing with us the many secrets dormant in its brain.

Similar to the darkmantle, the cloaker appeared to be a leather cloak after it's untimely demise. There was only one of them but it was significantly more threatening than it's forebear. Once again attaching and suffocating Jeldras, it fought to keep us away as it choked the air out of him, moaning a terrible moan and summoning images like itself with which to absorb and avoid our blows. We heard further such moans throughout the caves, but learnt to keep our eyes up and senses primed: an excellent ideas was suggested by Sarnegla of attaching spear heads or sharpened stakes to our helmets in order to stop these surprise drops.

*

An adult grick was about eight-feet long from the tips of its tentacles to the end of its body and weighed some 200 lbs. Its body coloration was uniformly dark, with a pale underbelly. This creature had no legs, so it slithered around. It attacked its prey by wrapping it in its tentacles and pulling it into its pinching teeth.

*

We found these rather odd looking creatures in a large pit, strewn with gems. They had one large, gaping mouth full of teeth; three arms and three eyes with long taloned hands. Sarnegla said they were called Xorn, a matriarchal creature, resistant to fire and cold. Most were only around 3ft in height, but the tallest was greater than even Jeldras at over 7ft. Eating the gems around, they did not engage us, only to stare and growl. My feeling is that they are a timid, perhaps even reasonable creature. I think if not Sarnegla, Jeldras would have slewn everyone of them for the sake of the gems.

*

Roper

Gratefully we encountered drow on our journey. The so called Dark Elves are said to be evil and self-serving but we found them quite willing to trade for the pelts and knick knacks we had gathered thus far

Mind-Flayer

*

On our attempt to leave, we were suprised by a creature partially submerged in water. A claw crept out, paralyzing many of us. As the huge tentacled crustacean rose from the murk, it ripped Sarnegla in half in one movement, spilling his pack full of magic stones and other odds and ends over the cavern. Me and Jeldras leapt into action, once more entering the fray in our spellcaster and hardhitter combination. I sometimes forget just how quick Jeldras moves, and how many hits he seems able to take. The poison which paralyzed Sarnegla did not even seem to phase him. After a burst of sunlight and a swarm of insects on my part, the creature was consumed. It seemed unwilling to leave the water, allowing us to focus down that area.

We laid Sarnegla to rest afterwards with the items in his pack. I understand he didn't have much a care in the world beyond material wealth, and I felt over this journey he learnt the danger of trying to own the world, and it is a shame he would die in such an ungodly manner. May his soul find a rest with Angharad.